The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,723 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,590 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $43,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.41.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $0.70 on Monday, reaching $282.11. 2,216,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,630,440. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $274.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.44.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.